A canny invention by American hacker and new media artist Randy Sarafan is giving a whole new meaning to these lyrics: he's invented a strapless bra that comes off with just a clap of the hands (perfect for women with shoulder injuries, not so perfect for anyone within a kilometre of a Wiggles concert).

Sarafan was inspired by the high-tech bras he spotted around Syria - from the musical bra to the remote-control-operated and glow-in-the-dark options.

"It became my mission to fast-forward lingerie technology in the West. I figured the first step in this critical mission was to replicate some of the advancements made in Syria. The article of lingerie that resonated most with my inner sensibilities was the clap-off bra. I immediately resolved to make my own clap-off bra as a springboard into Western lingerie innovation."

Sarafan has posted the rather complicated 27-steps that are involved in crafting the admittedly-very-ill-fitting-looking strapless bra on DIY site Instructables: you'll just need two circuit boards, a 28-pin socket, an Arduino, an elastic band, double-sided tape and about 20 other things we don't recognise. We might just stick to our annual Bendon outlet shopping spree, then.

We applaud Sarafan's creativity, but this is still our favourite unusual brassiere of all time, and this is definitely still the most useful item of lingerie in the world.